"Israel's so-called humanitarian ceasefire is unilateral and it comes at a time when the Zionist enemy wants to distract the world from the massacres they have committed against our people in Gaza," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told the television channel al-Aqsa.

"We don't trust their intentions and we ask our people to take extreme caution."

The Palestinian death toll has exceeded 1,800 since the IDF launched Operation Protective Edge on 8 July, in retaliation to the firing of more than 150 rockets from Gaza into Israel.

On 17 July, IDF also began a ground invasion of Gaza to destroy Hamas's underground tunnels.

The UN warned Israel that it might be committing war crimes as at least 70% of Palestinians killed have been civilians.